評論
打印
Business
商業
Diet products
減肥商品
A big, bad business
點肥成金不現實
Medical firms struggle to profit from weight-loss treatments
制藥公司試圖從減肥治療中獲利
OBESITY is an epidemic to some and an opportunity to others.
肥胖癥對某些人來說是傳染病，對別的一些人來說則是機遇。
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight.
超過三分之二的美國人已經超重。
Find a way to battle the bulge and a huge profit might be made.
找個辦法和肥胖對抗，說必定就此大賺一筆。
On February 22nd one pharmaceutical firm, Vivus, took a small step towards this goal.
2月22日，Vivus制藥公司朝著這個目標前進了一步。
A committee advising America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that it approve Vivus's diet drug, Qnexa.
給美國食品藥物管理局做咨詢的一家委員會推薦，Vivus公司的減肥藥Qnexa。
However, the pill's long-awaited final approval may not come until April, if at all.
但是，如果獲得批準，該藥品的漫長的最終肯定直到四月份才會到來。
The announcement mostly served as a reminder of what a struggle it is to turn fat into gold.
公告主要是提醒人們，這是一場點肥成金的抗爭。
Pharmaceutical and medical-device companies are quite good at treating the conditions that come with obesity.
制藥和醫療器械公司非常善于解決肥胖帶來的問題。
However, they are dismal at helping consumers lose weight.
但是他們無法幫助消費者戰勝肥胖本身，減少體重。
This is not for lack of trying. Take the curious case of the gastric band.
這不是因為缺乏嘗試。以古怪的胃部束帶為例。
Bariatric surgery can lead to weight loss in the long term.
肥胖治療手術可以幫助患者在較長的時間內減少體重。
Hospitals can make money from all bariatric procedures, including gastric bypasses (in which the stomach is partitioned and the upper part connected directly to the small intestine), but the gastric band is a rare example of an opportunity for device-makers to profit from weight loss.
醫院就是從這些減肥療程中賺錢，包括胃繞道手術（手術中，胃被切割，直接把上部跟小腸連接起來），但是胃部束帶卻是一個罕見的例子，被當成一個器械制造商用來從減肥中賺錢的法子。
Allergan, best known for selling Botox, has tried to use its Lap-Band to tap the obesity market.
Allergan公司以銷售肉毒桿菌而出名，嘗試用產品Lap-Band打入減肥市場。
It is an inflatable loop which the surgeon fits near the top of the stomach, which helps the patient feel sated earlier.
Lap-Band是一圈松緊帶，外科醫生可以用它繞住患者胃的上部，這樣患者會提前有腹飽感。
Allergan has captured about 70% of the worldwide market for gastric bands and balloons, but sales are now shrinking.
Allergan公司在全球胃部束帶和充氣袋市場占有率達70%，但是如今銷量卻有所下降。
The recession has sapped consumers' desire for expensive surgery.
經濟不景氣讓消費者忍住做昂貴的手術的欲望。
Some patients have had bands removed because they slipped or proved ineffective.
有些病人甚至連束帶也不用了，因為束帶打滑或者沒有效果。
Last year the FDA approved the Lap-Band's use in patients who are only slightly overweight, but insurers have refused to pay.
去年，美國食品藥物管理局同意，微超重病人使用 Lap-Band，但是保險公司卻拒絕付款。
In January David Pyott, Allergan's chief executive, said he would scrap an effort to market the band for teenagers.
一月份，Allergan公司首席執行官David Pyott說，他將放棄在年輕人束帶市場的努力。
He is now trying to convince insurers of Lap-Band's merits, arguing that the $20,000 surgery is recouped in saved medical costs within four years.
他目前試圖讓保險公司也看到Lap-Band的優點，他認為兩萬美元手術費可以在四年之內通過減少醫療支出收回。
There is some scepticism about his chances of success: "The fact that banding is not as good as bypass has been known by everybody except the PR firms for the band," says Lee Kaplan, director of the Weight Centre at Massachusetts General Hospital.
至今仍有人懷疑他是否能成功：“事實上使用束帶不必胃繞道手術好，所有人都知道，除了束帶的公關公司，”馬薩諸塞州中心醫院體重中心主任Lee Kaplan如是說。
Drug companies have had even more trouble than device-makers.
制藥公司的麻煩甚至比醫療器械公司的還要多。
It has been 13 years since the FDA approved a prescription diet pill.
從美國食品藥物管理局批準減肥藥為處方藥到如今已經過了十三年。
That drug, Roche's Xenical, has notorious gastrointestinal side-effects.
瑞士羅氏制藥公司的Xenical臭名昭著，該藥會引發胃腸功能的副作用。
The FDA rejected Vivus's Qnexa in 2010 over concerns for the safety of pregnant women and the quickening of patients' heart rates.
美國食品藥物管理局于2010年拒絕批準Vivus公司的Qnexa，因為擔心該藥對孕婦的安全造成傷害，擔心該藥會加快患者的心率。
Vivus's new data apparently satisfied the FDA's advisory committee.
Vivus公司新的數據顯然讓管理局的咨詢委員會滿意。
However, the agency may yet reject the drug.
但是該局還是可能拒絕批準該藥。
Even if Qnexa is approved, it is unclear that patients will buy it.
就算Qnexa獲得批準，患者會不會買賬仍不明了。
Qnexa combines two treatments that are already on the market.
Qnexa結合了兩種市面上上有的療效。
Both medicines are generic, which means that doctors may prescribe the existing drugs rather than Qnexa's more expensive version.
這兩種藥物都是非專利藥，這說明醫生可能會給患者開已有的藥而不選擇Qnexa，后者更貴。
For now, it is more profitable to treat fat patients than to try to make them slim.
到目前為止，治療肥胖患者還是要比讓他們減肥更有利可圖。
